Eunice Viola (Zehr) Sintek

EUNICE VIOLA (ZEHR) SINTEK, 98, of Lincoln passed away in the loving arms of her family on Monday, June 23, 2023. Eunice was born on a farm near Shickley, NE, August 9, 1924, the daughter of Christian Lichti and Lydia (Rediger) Zehr. She was raised in rural Fillmore County, near Shickley. She graduated from Shickley High School in 1941. After graduation, she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to attend Nebraska Business College and was later employed by the Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph Company in the Accounting Department where she worked for eleven years.

On March 29, 1952, she was married to Norris Dale “Butch” Sintek in Fremont, Nebraska. He was a single father of two children, Beverly and Patricia. The family was added to by the birth of their daughter, Mary Lee. During their marriage they acquired real estate and remodeled for rental properties. They were avid fishermen and travelled the country in search of fish. Family vacations were always centered around the best fishing spots be it in Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Arkansas or anywhere the family travelled. After retirement she and Butch would set out in their camper to those choice fishing spots, often making it a family affair or taking their grandchildren with them.

Eunice and Norris together purchased her old family farmstead and had a pond for fishing and several different animals including horses and ponies, cows, quail, ducks, geese and bees. Together they kept a nice garden every year and put a lot of love and toil into producing fresh vegetables and fruit, a staple throughout their lives. They also had fresh meat and eggs always on hand and every year canned and put up all the harvested vegetables. They were staunch Nebraska football fans and a big thrill was flying down to Miami for one of the Orange bowls.

Eunice was a devoted Christian associated with Second Presbyterian Church which later became Heritage Presbyterian. She volunteered for funeral dinners and other functions at the church. She delivered Meals on Wheels for many years, and also assisted the elderly neighbors and her mother-in-law with meals and any assistance they required.

Eunice is survived by her sister, Bernetta (Zehr) Erb, Geneva, Nebraska, who just celebrated her 100th birthday this past year; by her daughter, Mary Lee (Les) Brown, who was her constant caregiver for the last years of her life; by a stepdaughter, Patricia (Sintek) Churray, Lincoln. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Jessica East, Seward, Stephanie (Justin) Tucker, Lincoln, and Matthew (Amber) Brown, Lincoln; by six step-grandchildren, James (Cheri) Churray, Omaha; Anthony Churray, Lincoln; Mary Churray, Custer, SD; and Barbara (Rod) Liable, Omaha, Brenda Johnson, Tennessee; and Angela (Mark) McKee, Jackson, Tennessee. She is survived by seventeen great grandchildren: Tyler and Adam Williams; Grayson Brown; Cayten Brown; Madysin and Harvey Brown; Kennedy Moore; Kristen Parkerson; Kara Beth McKee; Anna Kate McKee; Brandon Minton; Jeremy Minton; Joseph Churray; Kelby and Keegan Hicks; and William and Megan Echtenkamp. She is also survived by six great-great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Norris Sintek, by her parents, her five year old brother, Dellas Zehr, in 1930; brothers-in-law, Merlin Erb and Raymond Sintek; sister-in-law, Lucille Sintek, a step-daughter, Beverly Ann Harrison; grandchildren, Michelle Lee Harrison and Theresa Weiler, and a grandson-in-law, Levi East.

Memorial donations are suggested to the family, Tabitha Hospice of Lincoln, Neb. or the Heritage Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, NE.